Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy first Wednesday of the New Year!! I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! This week I want to discuss goals:

Galatians 3:3- "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

2 Corinthians 5:9- "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it."

Philippians 3:14- "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

It is around this time that many of us make New Year's Resolutions, or set goals for ourselves, and then question how long it will last. Many of us create lists of well-intentioned goals for the new year, but somehow can't seem to keep them all. Our Sunday School teacher sent an email with some great words of advice for the New Year. She said, "I encourage all of you to take some time to reflect on last year, thank God for His provisions and blessings, and then set some goals for this year." She is completely right- we should always reflect (not dwell) on the past to learn from our experiences, give God the glory for what He has done for us and prayerfully set new goals.

Did I hit the nail on the head when I said prayerfully set goals? Galatians 3:3 says, "Are you so foolish...are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Could this be a key reason why so many fail or give up? 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "So we make it our goal to please him..." Philippians 3:14 says, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." As Christians, the #1 goal on our list should be to please and follow Him. If God is the most important part of our lives, we should seek His will and goals. When setting goals for this year,let's prayerfully reflect on the past year, thinking about what God has taught us, spoken to us and brought us through. Then praise Him for all of these things- even the hard times, because they drew us closer to Him. Then seek His will and guidance for setting goals. There are plenty of things that I want to do, accomplish, change, etc. If trying to attain these goals by my own human effort, I can expect to fail. But if my goals are aligned with God's will, victory will prevail.

I think I want to order 4 of them for my 2 new babies and my brother's step daughters. Can you email me a sample of what you would do for girls?

I got the boots at Second times a charm in Farmington. Her place is just down from Tractor Supply. I love it there. I get the boys tons of jeans and shirts & I have found some great shoes & baby stuff too.